Looking for Asian America: An Ethnocentric Tour by Wing Young Huie

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Looking for Asian America

shows real people engaged in the full range of human activity. This is no small accomplishment for the photographer or his subjects. For Asian Americans it is extraordinary to be merely ordinary. To others, even if not to themselves, Asian Americans appear to be contradictions of identitya Chinese-Yankee is a knockoff. Frank H. Wu, from the Foreword

In search of contemporary Asian America, celebrated photographer Wing Young Huiethe only member of his family not born in Chinatraveled with his wife Tara through nearly forty states to explore and document the funny, touching, and sometimes strange intersection of Asian American and American cultures. Looking for Asian America

illustrates their rich and surprising journey across the United States.

Through Huies eyes, keenly aware of his own Midwestern roots and perspective, we witness such images as a Vietnamese Elvis, Miss Congeniality on her cell phone in San Franciscos Chinatown, a Hmong street sign in rural North Carolina, a meditating Falun Gong protestor in Washington, D.C., a bubble tea Valley Girl, and a Chinese theme park in Orlando. Huies camera captures ABCs (American-born Chinese), FOAs (Fresh Off the Airplane), and a self-described redneck Chinese restaurant owner near the Okefenokee Swamp. Taken together the photographs reveal a complex portrait of the U.S. cultural landscape, and their dignified elegance invites a closer, deeper look.

Accompanied by the personal reflections of both Wing and Tara Huie, the nearly one hundred spectacular photos tell a story that both mirrors and contradicts stereotypes of Asian Americans, ultimately questioning what it means to be ethnic and

American in the twenty-first century.

Wing Young Huie has received widespread acclaim for his works, including Lake Street USA,

documenting the cultural landscape of his native Minnesota. He is a recipient of a Bush Artist Fellowship and two-time recipient of the McKnight Photography Fellowship. He lives in Minneapolis.

Frank H. Wu is dean of Wayne State University Law School and the author of Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White.

Anita Gonzalez teaches in the Master of Liberal Studies Program at the University of Minnesota.